


Little Lights In The Dark

by TheCrimsonStoryteller



Category: H.I.V.E. Series - Mark Walden
Genre: Darkest Minds AU, F/F, Idk what the plot is don't expect much-, M/M, More tags added probably when I'm more awake, Oh hey there's a virus, Or never, Possible Character Death, Still thinking about that
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2021-02-09
Updated: 2021-02-09
Packaged: 2021-03-15 12:01:30
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,190
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/29313753
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/TheCrimsonStoryteller/pseuds/TheCrimsonStoryteller
Summary: One death.Just one little spark that didn't seem like much.And then another.And another.And another.And before they knew it, it had turned into a fire.
Relationships: Laura Brand/Lucia Sinistre | Lucy Dexter/Shelby Trinity, Other Relationship Tags to Be Added, Wing Fanchu/Otto Malpense
Kudos: 3





	Little Lights In The Dark

**Author's Note:**

> A few points to make before this starts:  
> Zane is Zero, he's just going to go by that for the first chapter.  
> Psi/IAAN is a virus in this AU effecting only kids between the age of 8-14, a child that gets it either dies instantly or gets powers from it.  
> The powers are classified by colors and go as followed:  
> Red: Fire powers  
> Orange: Any sort of telepathic powers  
> Yellow: Electricity powers  
> Blue: Telekinesis  
> Green: Just. Really smart?  
> PSF stands for Psi Special Forces. They're a government created organization meant to control and contain (Read: Capture And Imprison Or In The Reds' And Some Oranges' Case Kill) Psi children.  
> Psi children: Kids that got Psi and survived  
> I think that's all for now but more will probably be added later-

Mandy McTavish was the first one.

Fucking Mandy McTavish.

She had been standing on the very top of the slides set, screaming about how she had eaten a spider to everyone that would listen. He and Zane both agreed that it was actually just a balled up piece of string she had put in her mouth and spat out after a second or two. 

The two twelve-year-olds never agreed on anything.

Maybe that should've been the first indication that things were going to change faster.

It was almost turning into a full-blown civil war in the school yard, with Mandy's friends on her side and Otto's friends, Tom and Penny, on their side, when it happened.

Mandy's entire body froze up, cutting her off mid-sentence. She made weak gasping sounds, like she was trying to breath.

And then she collapsed, her body falling down from the top of the slide set.

And then she lay crumbled on the ground, unmoving. 

One of the boys from Mandy's group took a stick and poked her with it, trying to check if she was alright.

"Get up, McTavish." Penny had scoffed. "Pretending to be dead is getting old."

Mandy McTavish never got up.

And that was how the Psi disease all started.

One death.

Just one little spark that didn't seem like much.

And then another.

And another.

And another.

And before they knew it, it had turned into a fire.

Before they knew it, the twins woke up one day and five more kids had died.

Kids they used to sit next to were gone the next day.

Suddenly their school bus wasn't as full as it used to be.

The orphanage had suddenly gotten so much more quiet.

Every night, the casualty number they showed on the news only got higher. But that was less than half of the real deaths. Neighbors, friends, people they used to pass on the street were burying their children the next day.

Otto and Zane had always known about how real death was.

But it was so much more real with the reality of not knowing who was going to be the next victim hanging over their heads.

Everything changed. And it changed fast.

* * *

It was a few months later when the rumours started.

The rumours were simple, yet scary. 

Rumours circled that some kids survived, that they had developed abilities.

That they turned into monsters. Uncontrollable, dangerous and terrifying monsters.

The adults at the orphanage tried to shield them from the rumours, telling them they were just stories.

But rumours spread. Just like fire. Just like the disease.

They were just rumours.

They were just rumours, until PSF officers started showing up to their classes, teaching them how to find the “disabled and corrupted” children that survived the disease and take them away for "rehabilitation".

"I don't like them." Zane had whispered to him one night as they laid awake in their beds. "What do they mean by rehabilitation? What do they do to the kids they take?"

Otto had shrugged, not responding, before whispering a few moments later. "Promise me you wouldn't hurt me if you get infected and get abilities."

Zane never responded to that question.

* * *

There was an untold rule in the orphanage. An unwritten deal the kids had agreed on and obeyed. That if someone, anyone, in the orphanage got infected and survived, no one would tell on them.

It was simple. If you saw someone washing blood out of their mouth and nose, then you kept quiet. You turned away. You pretended you hadn't seen a thing, and so did they.

After all, no one knew what happened to the kids taken to rehabilitation.

In hindsight, they should've expected things to go south at some point with that arrangement.

* * *

It had happened quickly.

Zane had somehow managed to convince one of the older kids that had survived Psi to show the others his powers.

The kids at the orphanage had gathered around the older girl, waiting to see her display of abilities.

The girl had carefully looked around, before taking a deep breath and holding out her hands, a small flame forming at the palm of his hands. The younger children 'oo'ed and 'aa'ed at the sight of the fire and a few of the older ones, Penny and Otto included, had tried to touch it out of curiosity.

And then it all went out of control.

In the fraction of a second, the girl lost her control on the flame.

And before they knew it, it had turned into a fire.

That was the first time the kids at the orphanage had all decided to break their agreement.

They pretended they hadn't called for the adults when the fire started.

They pretended they hadn't been the ones to convince the girl to show them her power.

They pretended they hadn't seen the girl crying and begging when the adults called the PSF.

They pretended they hadn't noticed the gunshot sounds followed by the PSF officers leaving the orphanage.

They pretended they didn't notice the girl's absence after that event. 

But pretending could only get them so far.

* * *

Penny laid on her stomach, staring at the colorful marbles scattered on the ground. "What about the windows?" She suggested, not looking up. "They usually don't lock the windows."

"They lock the ones in the first floor." Otto reminded, biting the end of his pen. "And the ones on the second floor have bars. And-"

"And the third floor ones are too high to jump out of." Tom completed, shrugging when Otto raised a brow. "It was the third time you were going to repeat that." He picked up one of Penny's marbles, staring at it. "Maybe the vents?"

It had been almost a year since Psi had taken over their lives. Almost a month since the fire. Almost a week since the new precautions for what happened to the survivors of Psi were set in place. 

And a day since Otto had become one of the survivors.

"Don't you have powers?" Zane rolled his eyes, flicking one of the marbles and hitting a few others on the ground with it. "Can't you use those to escape?"

"No."

He frowned. "Why not."

Otto didn't respond, only turning his attention to Tom's suggestion. "I don't think we can exactly fit through the vents, but if we could send something out from the vents to help us from the _outside…_ "

Penny got to her feet, knowing that in only a few moments she and Tom would be sent to find supplies for the blue-eyed boy.

Otto quickly scribbled a list of supplies on a piece of paper and folded it, handing it to the girl. "Go get these with Tom. Bring them to me after dinner."

Penny grabbed the list, exiting the twins' room with Tom.

She narrowed her eyes, trying to read the note written in crayons with Otto's almost illegible handwriting, before handing it to Tom. "Read it. You're the only one that can."

He took the note with a chuckle as they got further away from the two albinos' room.


End file.
